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5.0 out of 5 stars
Reading pleasure, Jul 16 2004
I became an avid reader of Katherine Hall Page's wonderful mysteries after reading an article about her in The Tufts Criterion, the alumni publication of Tufts University. In my estimation, The Body in the Attic is her best work yet. The protagonist, Faith Fairchild, is maturing as a mother and as a caterer. In some ways, perhaps she is an alter-ego of the author herself. While the two concurrent plots of the mystery provide a really good read, other themes such as balancing family with career, gourmet cuisine with urban homelessness and hunger, and ministry with personal fulfillment, are also of central concern. To be sure, there are feminine frills, presented with a delightful touch of humour, i.e. comments on accessories and designer clothes, but at its heart the novel delves in a lighthanded way into some rather serious issues of modern life.Because Faith Fairchild's husband, Tom, is a minister, there is a spiritual overtone as well. But the religious theme does not usually enter through his character, not in previous works in which he is pastoring, nor in this one where he teaches at Harvard Divinity. Rather, it is Faith the minister's daughter and pastor's wife who usually interjects the element of living with meaning and integrity. In this volume, it is intriguing that the victim's diary is also the vehicle which speaks of God's love, as well as of the moral issues and dilemmas that spring from a commitment to live with some sort of integrity during the intolerably evil imprisonment within her home. Then, too, the pleasures of food are presented throughout the book in a number of interesting ways. While this is true in all Katherine Hall Page's mysteries, the catalog of luscious-sounding restaurants that actually exist in Cambridge and Boston are worth researching on-line and exploring in person. Readers who live in the greater Boston area are doubly blessed. Finally, it is worth obtaining a copy of this book for the narrative pages which follow as a sort-of postscript. Of special note in all Katherine Hall Page's works are the recipes, but as more a reader than a cook I really enjoyed this particular volume's notes on both comfort food and comfort reading. The author provides a lengthy list of authors one could curl up with for a long time to come. In addition to our author's reading suggestions, I also look forward to curling up with a long list of future novels by this author. I wonder if she is as delightful a person as Faith Fairchild and her fictional friends. May Katherine Hall Page continue to bless us with years of new reading pleasure!
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